The Tolkien Coming of Age Club

[mark12_30]

All I was trying to do was assure Samwise that she wasn't about to be tossed for some unmet age minumum, or lack of grey hairs and wrinkles.

That said, Sam-- congrats on the pending celebration. You are going to celebrate, aren't you? *winks at all hobbits on thread* I don't mind another Mathom to add to my collection. Where's the party? How big will it be? Whatcha serving? You could ask Rae for help cooking. She's got a recipe for seed-cake that she needs to try.

Remember the book-collection theme from a few pages back? I've gone off the deep end... started collecting boxed sets of the trilogy. I've got five now, and two more are in the mail, and I'm sniffing around at yet another on ebay.... I could howl, "Mith it's all your fault". But that would hardly be fair. I distinctly remember that when I was a teenager (back in the mists of antiquity) I always used to check out the Tolkien boxed sets on the bookstore shelves, even thought I already had a red one, and wished I could get the gold one too-- and that nice big leather Red Book of Westmarch.

After Fellowship came out last year, the Red Book was the very first that we bought, along with the green-leatherbound Hobbit. But then after I finished the Red Book, my husband started reading it-- and of course I certainly didn't want to discourage THAT, but I just had to reread LOTR and review certain sections, so nothing would do but that I go out and get myself a paperback copy. I picked up the Ringwraith-cover omnibus. Then I decided when the Gandalf-In-Bag-End-cover omnibus came out, I liked that cover too. And then Somebody mentioned old Ballantine Heraldry-boxed sets and ebay in the same post.

Thus began the madness.... What with boxed sets and HoME and related tomes, soon I'll need to clear a fourth shelf. My goodness.